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Dominicans Abroad

Dominican Mother Killed by Stray Bullet in Upper Manhattan

New York , United Estate.  – The Dominican mother Valeria Ortega, 64 years old, was killed by a bullet in the head from a stray bullet fired by two shooters who faced off at the intersection of Dickman Street and Vermilyea Avenue in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan yesterday Monday at 11:30 a.m. Ortega, a native of Santiago de los Caballeros and married for 40 years to her husband, was walking from her nearby home to the crime scene to make a purchase at the supermarket.

She fell in front of the natural medicine store “GNC” shocking the whole neighborhood while the two men riding on scooters fled the scene. As of the closing of this chronicle, the police said that there have been no arrests in relation to the murder, clarifying that the victim was not a specific target of the thugs.

The two are actively sought by homicide detectives from the 34th precinct. Her devastated husband Antonio Ortega and son Charlie arrived at the scene bursting into inconsolable tears.

Witnesses and the police said that the bullet hit her in the face. She was taken to Harlem Hospital on Lenox Avenue and 135th Street West where she expired.

The father related that the son rushed to tell him what had happened, but he could not describe the scene.

“She was heading to the supermarket,” said her husband. “My son told me ‘look at my mother, come see my mother!’,” narrated the inconsolable husband.

“We heard three shots and we crouched down,” said a GNC employee. “After a couple of minutes, we came out. There were a lot of people around.

The woman was face down. She had a cart. She was bleeding,” added the witness. Hours after the death, a dozen neighbors and friends showed themselves shocked.

“She took care of her sick mother who has to be kept on oxygen. The blind lady on the fourth floor, who is not a relative, she takes care of her too,” explained a neighbor.

“I saw her every morning with her little cart buying for the family, for other people too,” added the neighbor. “I don’t want to believe it. She was a blessing.”

The police pointed out that officers responded to a 911 call around 11:31 a.m. about a person shot at the referred intersection.

When the police arrived, she was lying on the sidewalk, the cart she used for shopping and the scarf with which she covered herself from the Arctic cold, were left near the body.

The police say that the two suspects are Hispanics who were wearing dark clothing when they fled the scene. The investigators are looking for a surveillance video to establish the circumstances of the shooting and identify the fugitive shooters.

The husband described her as a good person who dedicated herself to doing good to others.

Numerous residents of the blocks between Dickman Street and Vermilyea Avenue said they often saw the woman walking through the neighborhood.

They added that the corner where the shooting occurred is well known for drug trafficking.

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